Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-05-05

before assembling at the uepOI we nau Te-
ceived a week salary in advance. 1t was the
only week ever thus paid, or even paid in
full As board and laundry expenses are
paid by the actor, the ladies wear bright
silk scarfs instead of linen at the throat, and
the only visible linen of the gentlemen is the
celluloid collar The manager paws the COM
panys railroad fares only; meals and sleepers
must be paid for by the actor l could sci
dom afford sleeper, and l never shall forget
what / suffered from WEAKNESS travelling
nights in an upright position, often starting
after the performance or at 3 or o'clock i'll
the morning / used to suffer untold pain
from standing all day behind the counter
but at least l had my rest at night. Upon
arriving at our journeys end we had to walk
to the hotel in rain and slush or cold and
snow, for transportation to and from the
depots is also at the actors expense. What
with the innumerable small expenses Incl
dental to travel, and little personal expenses
which even the most economical cannot
avoid incurring, soon found that l could
save little out of my S25 a week even if
l had received it regularly, which | never
did after the first two weeks.
fortunately at this time an uncle took
charge Of my father, leaving me free to de-
termine whether l could make as much at
acting as in selling dry goods. l may say
right here that l never did, and after giving
it five years good trial dropped it and
luckily was able to walk right back to my
old place behind the counter"
(Which is the easier and pleasanter life?'
"Well, in some particulars, life on the road
is The change Of scene and travel are
pleasant, the company usually agreeable, and
when the play is running SO smoothly as to
require no rehearsals, one has plenty OF leisure
to read, sew or to see the sights of each new
town. The members of the company, as they
become acquainted, generally pair off COM
panionably, Miss A. accepting Mr.. b. as her
escort to and from the theatre, the table and
the railway stations. soon learned to play
acceptably the small role with which had
, been intrusted, so that that which had sup
posed had most to fear-namely, failure
never gave me any trouble. That L should
receive hardly any pay for my work was
possibility which had never occurred to me.
But we had been only three weeks out when
the ghost who had only walked to the tune OF
a few dollars weekly for each person, 'f'etered
out altogether. Ies-.nv
ghost is the paying of the salaries.
"And here l may remark that my subse
quent experiences were pretty nearly repeti-
tions of the first. The manager called
meeting of the company, and announced
that he had no more money, either 20 pay
sails or to take us to the next stand. lie
had, however, he said, dates ahead that gave
promise of success and gave us the choice OF
being sent back to New York without our
backpay or of taking the chance OF the busl-
ness pulling up to a paying basis.
"There was unanimous consent TO rake
the chance rather than be thrown out or WORK
at the beginning of the season, the very worst
time for getting employment we were not
to receive any money pro tem, put the
manager undertook to pay our expenses un-
til he could resume the payment OF salaries,
out of which he would then deduct the sums
expended for us, as per the original agree
ment The new arrangement beng maze,
the manager hurried on to the next stand
where we were billed to show ana soon
telegraphed back money enough to get the
comnanv on The manner in which he OBJ
tanned the money shows another strange
phase of this queer theatrical business. Ihe
local manager having booked no other attrac-
ton for our date, had either to advance our
railroad fare or close his theatre-a thing
which every manager holds it point or
honor not to do. even setting aside the none
Narv loss. For the first time since we had been
ont we drew crowded house, with no paper
in it, but except for cheering US up, 1t had no
beneficial effect"
"Whyp
@Recause the local manager had stipulated
that the money he advanced should De re-
funded from the first 'take:' next, he took his
percentage of the receipts as originally agreed
upon. after which take there was nothing
left for the company to take However, our
way being paid, we were all as jolly as sand
boys. Upon the managers assumption OF all
expenses a surprising change took place I'D
the habits and appearance OF the entire COM
pany. Instead of putting up at third rate
hotels and boarding houses for the sake OF
saving, they insisted upon going to the best
hotels, where they seemed to think it duty
to seat their way straight through the bill OF
fare
notwithstanding their increased appetite,
they were continually attacked with sudden
ailments which necessitated sleepers IN travel
inc Going to first class hotels naturally
obliged them to spruce up in their personal
appearance. The gentlemen appeared In
white shirts. displaying good deal OF bosom.
The ladies discarded their gayly colored neck
erchiefs and were no longer sparlng OF White
handkerchefs and underwear.
"When asked the reason OF this extraVa-
gance I was informed that, no matter how
good the houses might be, the manager would
in all human probability never pay arrear-
ages of salary, and that the comforts OF lpe
were all that the people were likely to get Tor
their labor-and so indeed it proved An
incident occurred more amusing to us than
to the manager. Our leading man, JACK
Cbawscene, discarding his blue flannel bosom
and celluloid collar, boomed out every day
in a highly polished white shirt. Although
business was picking up, the manager was
prudently keeping the expenses down 10 tne
last possible cent. One day we were starting
off. supposing that everything had beer paid,
when a bill of IS for Jacks washing was pre-
sented and settlement demanded. Small as
was the sum, the manager had not provided
for If. and that bill bade fair to prevent our
getting out of town on time. The danger
was only averted by an uncular relative ad-
vancing the money on the managers time
piece. In every succeeding stand similar
bill of steadily increasing proportions threat
ened to disrupt the company.
.'The most singular thing about it was that
Jack always had more shirts laundered than he
wore during the week, and the male men,
bers of the company resolved to solve the
mystery by inquiring where he got so many
soiled shirts. L bring 'em with me, said
Jack with CHEEKY frankness. You see, most
fakirs put their savings into banks; put
mine into shirts. All summer long in New
York l never have shirt washed. l put 'em
into a trunk after I've worn them and bring
'em along with me in the winter. If ] strike
dead broke concern like this | make the
manager pay for having them washed, and
I'm that much ahead of him. If the ghost